The people of Kilgarvan in Kerry are the stars of this opening sequence to ‘Hall’s Pictorial Weekly’.
The village of Kilgarvan (in Irish Cill Gharbháin, meaning church of Saint Garbhan) is situated between Killarney and Kenmare in County Kerry.
People going about their business are happy to wave to the camera crew, who provide a welcome diversion for children in the national school. A vehicle tyre requires air, and supplies for one of the businesses in the village are being unloaded.
Once a week, from June to September, the ‘Hall’s Pictorial Weekly’ film crew would arrive at a town or village in any county in Ireland. They would film the people and the place and return to RTÉ where the footage was edited and the theme music added.
This short film of around one minute’s duration formed part of the opening sequence for that week’s episode. No-one knew which location had been chosen, and it was not advertised as part of the programme billings in the RTÉ Guide or newspapers.
So with this in mind, people the length and breadth of the country tuned in religiously, in case it was the turn of their town or village to have its few minutes of fame.
This episode of ‘Hall’s Pictorial Weekly’ broadcast on 28 May 1976.
